Save Me
by joyusbabs
Summary: This is a sequel to Oh, Brother, but don't expect everything to happen okay. Damon and his friends discover whether or not things are going to change for the better or for the worse, while in the meantime trying to find out who tried to kill Damon and why. Please R&R. I appreciate people's opinions. It's not needed to read Oh, Brother 1st, but it's recommended; it refers to it.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay, so I did not get a lot of reviews on chapter 8 of ****_Oh, Brother_****, I guess that chapter wasn't good. That's a bummer. For those of you who haven't read it, read Oh, Brother, and Chapter eight if you haven't just read that one chapter, because if not this story might not make sense. As I said at the end of Chapter 8 I haven't decided whether or not to carry this story on passed a one-shot, but I'm leaning toward making this a chapter story and better go into the Daroline that I had set up in ****_Oh, Brother_****. Okay, so this takes place basically two days after the events in Chapter 8 happened. How will things go down? **

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**Chapter 1: What the Heck?**

"How are you feeling?" Caroline asks as she walks into the boarding house. She sees Stefan sitting on the couch, hunched over, and staring at the fire. It's night time and she's worried about Stefan, because ever since the funeral he's been sitting at that very spot and getting wasted. He hasn't even fed at all since three days ago, when he returned from the college campus.

"I don't know that I want to feel anymore, Caroline." Stefan mutters.

Caroline swallows hard. She never had the luck to see Stefan in his ripper phase, but according to Elena and Damon, he was worse than any vampire imaginable, and that's saying something, because she's pretty sure she'd seen Damon at his worse, and he was pretty unpredictable and evil in his day. "You don't mean that, Stefan." She says grimly. She cautiously approaches Stefan and sits beside him.

"I do, Caroline, how can I not mean it. I failed him. I let my chances slip through my fingers. I forced him to turn and I killed him, how can I ever continue to live with myself?" Stefan says with a certain voice. He glances up at her, and Caroline notices how broken and shattered he looks. He looks like a shell of himself. His eyes aren't even red and puffy they are just void of everything. He must have cried himself out, and Caroline doesn't doubt that for a second, because the way he was sobbing at the funeral must have surely done the job.

"Stefan, Damon wouldn't have wanted that." Caroline tries to reason. The moment she says his name, something sparks in Stefan's eyes, and it only grows when she refers to Damon with past-tense verbs. She grows fearful; Stefan's not exactly looking stable or at all sane right now. His eyes gleam with hurt, loss, unshed tears, anger, hatred, and something that she can't quite place. She even has to recompose herself when she thinks on the sentence she just said. Damon is referred to in past-tense now? Is this what she has to live with? Just three days ago, he was asking her to a dance and was failing miserably at trying to hide his feelings for her. She had feelings for him too, but she remembers that she thought it was the cutest thing she ever saw, and that's saying something because it's Damon Salvatore she's talking about here.

"I can't do this right now, Caroline." Stefan says as he stands up. Caroline stands up too and puts a hand on his shoulder. He growls and pushes her hand off in anger. She swallows hard and backs up unknowingly a couple of steps. "You just referred to my brother with his name in past-tense, and now you're trying to console me? You don't know what he would've wanted! You don't know that it wasn't my fault! I'm going to go alleviate the pain." Stefan finally composes himself before rushes out the door with his vampire speed.

It takes Caroline a moment before she can regain control of herself. She was frightened for her life, more so than she has ever been, even more than when Damon was holding a stake just inches from her heart, threatening her with a cold, hard voice that she needed to die. She has to call Bonnie. Wow! Bonnie, where has she been? No one's seen her since the night of the funeral, well that's not exactly true; because she did see her yesterday, but for a moment and her eyes looked tired and baggy. The spell she cast did exhaust her somewhat, but it certainly would have wore off by now. The phone rings and she hears the phone being answered, "Bonnie, it's Caroline, Stefan's losing it. He's completely gone insane. I was afraid for my life just now and he now he's sped off somewhere to go alleviate his 'pain'."

"Caroline?" She hears a voice come over the line. It's a voice she's not supposed to hear ever again. Why is this person answering Bonnie's phone? What the heck is going on?

"Damon?" She asks. The name barely manages to make it out of her throat, let alone off of her tongue.

She hears shuffling in the background and then hears the voice that should've answered the phone, "Caroline?"

"Bonnie, what the heck, was that…who I….he…tell me what's going on, Bonnie!" Caroline practically screams into the phone.

"It's okay, Caroline, come over to my house and I'll explain everything." Bonnie answers.

"It's Stefan, I can't exactly come over right now, but tell me this, has Damon been alive this whole time? Does he not care that we've been mourning for him? That Stefan's completely lost it? Do you two think this is fun?"

"No, Caroline, of course not. When I was travelling home from the funeral I found Damon barely alive, covered in dirt on the side of the road. He didn't recognize me, but somehow I managed to half carry him to my car and later into my home. He was slipping away fast, but I managed to get some blood bags that I had at my house for whenever you came over for a sleepover. I've been nursing him back to health for two days now. He grabbed my cell-phone when you called and answered."

"Hang on, I'm coming over." Caroline says as she hangs up the phone and quickly speeds over to her friend's house.

"Bonnie…open up!" Caroline screams as she violently knocks on her friend's door.

"Shush, Caroline, he's got an incessant headache." Bonnie says as she opens the door and allows Caroline to come in.

The minute Caroline walks in her eyes have to readjust. It's completely dark, and the only light provided is by a few candles scattered about the shelves of the room. "Why is it so dark in here?"

"I have a headache, and Bonnie's trying to juju me or something." Damon groans.

Caroline's eyes grow wide and she immediately flicks her gaze over to Damon the not dead undead who is lying on the couch with an arm over his eyes. His arm is skin and bone and he is wearing something way out of his wardrobe. Is that Bonnie's dad's clothes? "Damon?"

He slowly moves his arm away from his eyes and Caroline notices just how gray and ashen his skin is. He's drenched in sweat and his eyes are sunken in. He looks exhausted and half-alive. He looks like he is barely hanging on to consciousness. He tries to sit up, but Bonnie has to help him, when he fails. "I'm trying to stop the pain and get your body to heal itself quicker."

"What's this I heard about Stefan falling off the rails?" Damon asks.

"I…uh…he's heartbroken like all of us are, were." Caroline corrects herself.

Damon frowns, "I'll go to him." He says as he barely manages to stand up. Caroline notices that it takes up all of his will power.

"You can't, Damon, yes you're ten thousand times better, but you can't handle it. Your body will not handle it, and you could die again, this time right in front of Stefan, just because he is falling off the rails." Bonnie tries to reason.

Damon frowns and turns toward her, "Why do you care so much for me?"

"I care, Damon, believe it or not, you grew on me the last week, before you died." Bonnie solemnly explains.

Damon manages a feeble attempt at a smirk, "It's Stefan, Bonnie." He says and as he's heading out the door he stops when Caroline's phone rings.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Caroline? Oh, thank goodness, I reached you. Anna's over here, we were walking back from a movie and we caught sight of Stefan and he's going crazy. Anna's managed to break his neck and bring him home with us, but he's woken up now and we've taken his ring. He's insane, and shattered to bits I need your help!" Elena all but screams over the line.

Damon hears that, and before anyone can protest he's gone and the door is left wide open. Caroline looks over at Bonnie, who nods, and Caroline tightly grips her friend's hand and speeds off in the direction of the Gilbert house. She reaches it before Damon does and figures that it's because he's so weak. She pushes the door open and she and Bonnie rush inside to see Anna pinning Stefan down, Elena in tears and being comforted by Jeremy, Alaric dangling over Stefan with a fully-loaded crossbow held in the ready position, and a more than frantic Jenna practically screaming in a corner of the room.

"Jenna?" Caroline looks over at her friend's aunt with compassion.

"I've already told her two nights ago. I couldn't offer up an adequate lie, but this is when she actually gets to see it." Alaric explains exasperatedly, his eyes never leaving Stefan.

"Stefan?" Caroline asks as she approaches him with subtle movements. She signals Anna to let him go, and when the young vampire glances at Bonnie she does that and before Stefan can make a move for it, Bonnie gives him an aneurism.

Stefan groans and sits back down, and when Bonnie stops the pain, he sits in place, looking more lost and drained than ever.

"I can't do this anymore, Caroline," Stefan says.

"You were going to kill somebody." The blonde states matter-of-factly.

"No, I was going to alleviate the pain; I was going to kill myself at my brother's grave." Stefan says in a small voice.

"Stefan—" Elena starts, but is interrupted by a surprise guest.

"Now, is that anyway for you to behave, little brother? Get all suicidal, and leave these good people behind? Leave Elena? Leave everyone that cares about you behind, even me?" He says in a raspy, unused voice as he enters the room.

Caroline looks back at him and studies him; he looks ten times worse, if it's even possible.

She hears a sob and a frightening crack of laughter come out of Stefan and then she sees him in front of Damon with cynical eyes.

For minutes it seems like the brothers are having a private conversation with their eyes and no one dares to say anything to interrupt it. "Damon?" Stefan's voice finally cracks.

Damon nods in response, "It's okay, Stefan." He says.

Stefan looks back at Bonnie and growls, his face transforming, into the true monster, "What is this, Bonnie? Some sort of joke? You have to get me to calm down by conjuring up some sickly vision of my deceased brother?"

"No, Stefan, he's really there." Bonnie says, her voice pleading.

Stefan rushes at her and grabs her by the throat in rage, "Stop this, Bonnie!" He shakes her, and before Bonnie can give him a painful headache, arms forcefully pry him loose and he's face to face with his brother suddenly believing that it's him and not a vision brought on by witchcraft. "Damon?" Stefan asks, this time innocently and much more softly.

Damon's only groans in response, and Stefan notices out of the corner of his eyes that everyone is gasping in shock and that Alaric is forcefully tossing his weapon aside. Stefan glances down at it, the stake that it was loaded with is gone. "Stef?" Damon manages to get out breathlessly before he collapses into Stefan's arms.

"Damon!" Stefan screams aloud frantically. His brother's eyelids are fluttering and as Stefan looks he sees a stake protruding out of his brother's back. It's near his heart; Damon would have been dead by now if it wasn't.

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**AN: Okay, there you have it, the first chapter to the sequel of Oh, Brother. Please review and tell me what you think. I want to go more into the brother's relationship and how it's going to be changing and different, and I also want to go more into the Daroline aspect of it, now that Damon can finally take Caroline to a dance. Don't worry, I'm not that mean to bring Damon back and kill him off again so quickly, especially not in Stefan's arms. I'm not that bad. I hope you like it and I want to thank my two reviewers on chapter 8 of Oh, Brother. Please review on this chapter and let me hear your thoughts, your likes, and your dislikes. I love to read them. I can't ask you to do it for seven year old Damon anymore, because he's back to normal, but I can ask you to do it for the brothers, because after all aren't they the best relationship of the show? I love when they interact in all their glory and anger. So don't hesitate, the review button should be just below this message. :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Unbelievable

Chapter 2: Unbelievable

Stefan couldn't understand this. He heard his brother's voice and spun around, this seemed so surreal, but that's when he noticed that he did not appear until Bonnie showed up. His brother was dead, and this vision looked half-dead at the very least. It had to be Bonnie messing with his mind. He grew angry and attacked the witch on impulse, but then weak hands pulled at him and he let go and spun around to see his brother actually touching him. _He's real, this isn't Bonnie, I'll have to apologize to her_, he thinks absent mindedly, until he notices that everyone is gasping in shock and dismay. He notices that Ric's crossbow is empty and he looks at his brother. His expression is filled with pain and his eyelids are fluttering. Stefan isn't hit, he would have felt it, and it's only when his brother collapses into his arms that he realizes that the stake penetrated Damon and not him. Damon took the hit for him. He wants to choke and die right now, as he's holding Damon's nearly limp body in his arms, but realizes that Damon's not dead, the stake must've got close to his heart, maybe even scraped it, but it did nothing fatal. Damon would be graying and dead right now.

"Damon!" Stefan screams. He quickly rips the stake out of his brother's back and Damon weakly groans in response.

"Oh, my gosh, I never meant to shoot Damon." Ric says in a shocked voice.

Stefan just ignores the teacher. He rips the shirt off of his brother, which earns another loud gasp from everyone in the room. He's really just skin and bones, Stefan's shocked that he managed to even stand let alone get to the house under his own power. "He's not healing!" Stefan practically screams. "Someone get me a towel!" He yells louder and more assertively.

"I'll go get some blood-bags." Caroline says and with that she dashes out of the house.

Stefan's now supporting his brother's limp body, "Stay awake, Damon." He pleads with his brother.

Damon moans in response, but his eyes remain open, scarcely, but Stefan is holding eye contact with his brother no matter what. His brother is not about to die.

"Caroline's going to take too long, Stefan." Elena says, as Stefan lays his brother down on the towel on the couch, "He needs blood now."

Stefan knows what she's suggesting, but one look at his brother stops him from objecting. He nods and Elena quickly brings her wrist down to Damon's mouth. "Damon?" He moans and coughs, "You need to drink." She says authoritatively.

Stefan watches as his brother's veins pop out and he allows his fangs to go gum deep into Elena's wrist. She winces, but she holds still to let Damon get his fill.

"Elena, what are you doing?" Jenna asks disapprovingly as she walks up to her niece.

"Helping him." Elena curtly responds.

Damon wants to continue, but he knows that if he does, he'll be hurting his brother's girl and he cares for Elena. He pulls away and sinks back into the couch.

"It's okay, Jenna." Elena says in a softer voice as she turns around to face her aunt. "Damon has great control."

Jenna looks down at Elena's bleeding wrist, "Cover that up, Elena." She orders impassively. "This is so surreal." She mutters to herself as she goes follows Elena up the stairs to help her with her bleeding wrist.

"I'm so sorry, Stefan, I know I should have let you know, let all of you know, but I didn't know if Damon was going to make it, and now that this is happening it's all my fault." Bonnie says in a small voice.

Stefan immediately stands up from his brother's side and frowns, "You knew? My brother was alive this whole time and you knew?" Stefan growls.

"Stfn…" Damon chokes out softly, "It's okay."

Stefan closes his eyes and breathes deeply. He needs to calm down; his brother is lying there, practically dying. He knows what he has to do. He bends down and feels Damon's back, which emits a groan of pain from his brother. He pulls his hand back and frowns. "You're still not healed." He mutters.

Damon moans softly, "I'm gonna need a lot more blood, Stef."

Stefan nods, "Call Caroline" He says as he turns to Bonnie and grabs his ring off of the table and puts it on, "You need to tell her that I'm going to take my brother out to feed, so he can regain his strength." He says as he roughly picks up his brother, bridal style. "He's not going to survive on blood bags."

Damon has no energy to protest and he's trying to keep his scream of pain inside of him at the roughness of his brother, however it comes out in a cough nonetheless. He sinks into his brother's arms and allows his arms to limply dangle.

Before anyone can protest, Stefan is gone at vampire speed.

Damon finds himself flying by everything at vampire speed and he closes his eyes and sinks further into his brother's arms.

Stefan doesn't know exactly when his brother lost consciousness but he sets him down, propped up on a tree. Stefan knows that this is wrong on thousands of levels, but he's probably got to get his brother at least back to competence. "Rest here." He says to Damon under his breath, but he knows that his brother can't hear him. He's almost to the point of desiccation and Stefan doesn't want to see his brother in that state.

He dashes off in the direction he thinks he hears a campsite.

The campsite is filled with three couples and three tents. There's no fire in the middle, but there looks like there was at some point in the night. Stefan lingers in shadows on the outskirts waiting for the opportune time.

"Jack do you have my water bottle?" A woman asks as she approaches the outside of the camp.

Stefan watches this and takes a deep breath, he's not here to feed, but rather he's here to get someone to feed his weakening brother. The woman comes too far outside of her camp and Stefan speeds by and takes her away before she can even scream. His brother's pretty deep into the forest, so he knows that no one will hear her screams.

"Let me go!" She screams when Stefan stops. He's on the other side of the tree that his brother is resting on and the woman is struggling against his grip.

"No, I'm sorry, but you need to help my brother." Stefan says coldly.

He pushes her with vigor and she goes flying on the other side of the tree. She lands on her side and her arm is already bleeding. Stefan knows the moment when she sees his brother, because her expression is filled with mixed emotions: fear, worry, concern, and great trepidation. Stefan is by her side in a second and he yanks her wrist up to his brother's lips and ignores her screams of terror and protest.

Veins appear around Damon's closed eyes when he smells the girl's wrist so close to his mouth. He slowly opens his mouth and allows his fangs to sink gum deep into the girl's wrist.

"Please stop!" She screams over and over again.

Stefan puts a hand over her mouth, and finally speaks to the girl, "Listen to me, I want to get you out of here alive, okay, so if you cooperate and do not attract attention then I will be sure to return you back to your campsite alive, but if you do not cooperate, this will not end well for you. Do you understand?" Stefan asks.

He can feel the girl's tears as they run onto his hand. The girl nods slightly and she whimpers.

Damon is still sucking more and more life from her and his hands come up to keep the wrist in place. He opens his eyes slightly to see what's going on. The girl screams through Stefan's hand when she sees his blood-shot eyes and the full face of a vampire.

"Enough, Damon, I'll go get another." Stefan says when he harshly rips the wrist away from his brother.

"Please let me go!" She screams.

"He's the only one with the ability to compel since he drinks human blood so you have to stay here until he is up to full strength." Stefan explains in a harsh voice. "But I will heal your wrist." Stefan says with a little more emotion.

Stefan bites into his own wrist and shoves it into the girl's mouth where the girl reluctantly complies. "Don't do anything stupid or you will find that you'll get a fate worse than death." Stefan warns.

The girl nods, her whole body shaking with trepidation.

Stefan speeds away, leaving the girl with his weak brother.

"Who are you? What are you?" She asks.

Damon's eyes are closed and his head is turned away from her, but when he hears her questions he slowly turns toward her and opens his blood-shot eyes.

"Creatures that exist in horror stories for little kids." Damon responds softly.

"You're not going to kill me, though?" She asks.

Damon sighs, "No, and you can thank my pious, brooding brother for that." Damon says.

"Wait! You would kill me?" She asks, suddenly horrified.

Damon shrugs, "I don't know." He winces when he tries to readjust himself against the tree, "Depends on my mood I guess, but I'm not in a mood to kill anyone, so I guess you'd be one of the lucky ones."

"What happened to you?" She asks.

Damon frowns, "I'm surprised you aren't running away."

"I don't want to die or get some worse fate, so I consider my options with logic, and I figure as weird as this may sound; my safest option is to stay here." She shrugs, "I won't become one of you will I, since I've been bitten, right?" She asks fearful of the answer.

Damon chuckles slightly, "You watch too many movies. No, you won't become one of us, but you will if you die with our blood in your system, and just to save our breath I'm a vampire."

"You're a vampire, for how long? Wait did you say die?" She asks and he nods, "How'd you die?"

"Back when I was human, I stupidly fell in love with a vampire and she fed Stefan and me her blood, and when I went to go rescue her, when she was captured, my father shot us both." Damon explains.

Her eyes go wide, "Why wasn't this on the news or anything?"

Damon laughs, "Because it was way back in 1864, it was the height of news among the council in Mystic Falls then, but no one knows of the story of the Salvatore brothers nowadays."

"1864!?" The girl exclaims.

"Making friends with your food, Brother?" They both turn to see Stefan dragging a guy along with him.

"Jack?" The girl asks.

"Julia!" The guy exclaims.

Stefan deposits the guy in his brother's lap and Damon instantly sinks his teeth into the guys exposed neck. Stefan backs up next to Julia, both watching Damon feed against the struggles of her boyfriend.

"Please don't kill him." Julia begs. She looks up at Stefan with pleading eyes.

Stefan meets her gaze with a soft expression, "I won't let him." He replies in a kind voice.

"What happened to him?" She asks.

"It was a spell, and he nearly died, but now that he's back I'm trying to get him back to full health." Stefan explains vaguely.

Damon lets the guy go and Jack scrambles away from Damon in fear. He comes to his girlfriend and notices the blood on her wrist and immediately frowns in rage, "What did they do to you?"

"It's okay, Jack, they aren't going to kill us." The girl soothes.

"They bit you!" He screams.

"Jack, please try to see reason. They're not bad people." Julia reasons.

"You think you have enough strength back to compel them so we can be on our way?" The couple turns their attention to the brothers. Damon winces as he stands and Stefan rushes to the other side of him and inspects his wound. "It's healed." Stefan states.

Julia frowns, "What healed?"

"I was shot earlier." Damon states bluntly. "You gonna heal him?" Damon asks.

Stefan nods and bites into his wrist and shoves it in the guy's mouth.

"Who shot you?" She asks.

"My best friend." Damon smirks.

"What?" Julia asks.

"Well, technically he was aiming for Stefan, and I intercepted." Damon clarifies.

"This is too weird." Julia states.

"Can you compel them, Damon?" Stefan says in an exasperated voice.

"Awe, is a little blood making you squeamish, Stef?" Damon mocks.

Stefan deadpans his brother, "Just do it."

"Wait, compel us?" Julia asks, "What does that mean?"

"I'm going to make you forget about us." Damon replies, "It's a little defense mechanism, so that way we don't have to kill everyone we show our true selves to."

"You don't need to compel us, we won't tell anyone." Julia pleads.

"You're a lot different than I thought you were going to be." Damon states.

"Julia, don't argue with them." Jack warns.

"Shut-up, Jack, they're reasonable people." Julia says urgently.

"Why would you want to remember this?" Stefan asks.

"Because, I'd like to be aware that vampires exist, and plus I don't know." Julia shrugs.

Damon stretches and sighs, "Well, that saves my strength." He chuckles.

"You can't be serious?" Stefan asks as he turns to his brother.

"Why not, she looks like she's not going to tell anyone?" Damon reasons. "But Jack on the other hand…" Damon allows his voice to trail off as he eyes the man warily.

"Jack, come on…" Julia begs.

"No, compel us. It'll be safer all around." The man responds in a domineering voice.

"No." Julia says as she sees Damon coming down to them at eye level. "Wait, how are you going to explain the blood to us?" She asks.

"We can wipe that off." Damon smirks.

As soon as the couple is compelled and cleaned, Stefan deposits them back at their campsite and returns back to his brother. Damon's leaning against the tree with ease, and Stefan can see that although his brother is not back to full health he's at least no longer skin and bones and ashen colored.

"How are you?" Stefan asks warily.

"Feels good to be back to normal." Damon smirks.

Stefan offers a small smile in response.

"Oh, come on, Stef, stop brooding too much. Go with the flow sometimes." Damon says as he stands straight.

"I thought I lost you, Damon." Stefan finally breaks.

Damon frowns and his eyes gleam with compassion, "I was pretty terrified that I was gonna lose you too." He responds.

"It's nice to have my _big_ brother back." Stefan laughs lightly.

"Oh, haha." Damon mocks, "I'll always be your big brother no matter what state I'm in. Now, let's go back home, and hey maybe we can teach you self-control." Damon says, "I saw you when I was bleeding, you nearly lost it."

Stefan's face goes serious, "I'm sorry, Damon, I…"

Damon puts a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Listen, Stef, it's okay, I'm here now, and I'm going to help you, because you know I'm not going to be there all the time to pull you out of a fight." Damon grins.

"It's so nice having you back." Stefan says as he hugs his brother.

Damon is startled at first, but then accepts it and returns the hug. Damon pats his brother's back lovingly. "It's okay, Stef. It's all going to be okay now." Damon says as he pulls away and looks his brother in the eyes.

Stefan searches his brother's eyes and then smiles, "Caroline told me that you owe her a dance."

"I'll deal with Blondie later, because tonight I'm with my brother." Damon says.

Stefan's smile fades and he searches his brother for any sign that it's a joke or a mocking statement, but he finds none.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like going home." Damon says.

"Well, let's go." Stefan says.

"Race ya!" Damon shouts and without further warning he speeds off into the night.

It takes Stefan less than a second to process what happened, and he speeds off after his brother with a smile on his face.

* * *

**AN: Okay, and thanks to Child of the Night 13 I put a little more brotherly fluff in there, than planned, and I don't know about you guys, but I liked it. Don't worry, this is not the end and I'm sorry this didn't have a lot of action in it, and the next chapter probably won't either. I enjoyed writing this chapter and hopefully you guys enjoy reading this just as much. I'm planning to have Damon confront everyone as a healthy vampire next chapter. Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. I can't wait to hear what you all thought of this. Definitely Daroline to come, though, so be patient if you're anxiously waiting for that. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Dinner Party

**AN: Okay, wow! Only one review on my last chapter. I'm so sad. I expected more, considering all the brotherly fluff I put in there, but oh, well, thanks to my last reviewer I am posting another chapter. I don't see any reason why I should continue to write a story when I'm not getting a lot of reviews. I'd hate to be writing to myself. As cool as it is to get a new follower, reviews are something I look forward to reading. I constantly check, even when I'm logged off. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Chapter 3: Dinner Party**

"Tonight was fun." Damon says with a smile as he and Stefan enter the boarding house.

"Yeah, it was." Stefan agrees.

"Okay, so now that I'm back from my near-death experience let's start planning how we're going to teach you self-control." Damon says as he rubs his hands together.

"Damon, wait." Stefan says in a serious tone.

Damon turns around to face his brother, and tips an eyebrow at him, "What is it, Stef?"

"Did you mean all those things that you said about me, about us, when you were younger?" Stefan asks.

"I was thinking let's get you to sip a bag of blood and see how you feel afterwards, and about what you're asking, I meant every word." Damon says with all sincerity.

Stefan smiles, "Yeah, Damon, that'd be great."

"Okay, let's go get you a blood bag." Damon says and he disappears downstairs in the basement.

Stefan rolls his eyes, "You do that!" He gets a text message and looks down to see it's from Caroline.

It reads, "Hey, I was thinking should we have a party for Damon? You know considering he isn't dead and all? It can be a surprise party for him."

Stefan grins, "Yeah, how about a dinner party tomorrow. You can bring everyone, Jenna included and she can get to know us and we can all have fun." Stefan texts back.

"Okay," Caroline sends back.

That seems to be the end of the conversation, but then he quickly adds a side note, "We can have it here, at the boarding house." He types quickly.

"Okay." Caroline sends back immediately.

"Okay, so I was thinking you should sip it a little and we'll see how you feel and we can just do this every day." Damon says as he leisurely walks back into the room.

Stefan furrows his brow, "Okay." He answers cautiously.

Damon nods and walks over to the liquor cabinet and takes out two glasses and pours a little of the blood from the bag in each glass. "We'll drink together every time so you don't lose yourself and can actually see someone with control." Damon says that last part a little mockingly, but Stefan doesn't think anything of it. He grins and is at his brother's side in an instant. He takes the glass as Damon hands it to him and stares at the red liquid with an awed expression. "Take it easy, Stef." Damon says, his voice trying to mask the worry. It isn't working, because Stefan notices and looks up at Damon with a frown.

"Okay, so what do we do?" He asks dumbly. He's going to let his brother walk him through this with baby steps. He doesn't want to go off of the deep end.

"Cheers." Damon says with a grin as he raises his glass. He waits for Stefan to follow and he does and then Damon tips the glass back and slowly downs the glass. Stefan does the same.

Stefan's face changes as he takes in the delight of the human blood. He moans in pleasure as it flows down his throat. When he's done he immediately tries to go for the blood bag, but Damon was expecting this, so he has the bag out of Stefan's reach before Stefan is even going for it.

"Take it easy, Stef." Damon says in a calm voice.

Stefan instantly straightens up and lets his face go back to normal. He wants more, but realizes that he doesn't need it right now. He just has to keep his cool.

"We'll do this every day at this time, and as you start to build up your control, we'll add a little more. You'll be a pro in no time."Damon says.

Stefan frowns as he takes in his brother's form. Damon suddenly seems a little under the weather and his eyes a little more red than usual. Stefan nods. "Get some rest, Damon."

Damon shakes his head and tries to look as healthy as he can, "I'm fine, Stefan. I need to watch you now."

Stefan can't believe he just started noticing how his brother doesn't look completely well. He noticed earlier, but he's sure he didn't look this bad, this drained. _Is something happening to him? _ "I'm fine, Damon. You don't look fine. You look like your getting worse with every moment."

"I practically came back from the dead and had a little bit of fresh human blood from the two donors. I then had to compel them and I ran here. I guess I've exhausted myself more than I should have." Damon shrugs, but Stefan can tell that he's obviously hungry.

"Damon, you need to drink the rest of that bag and many more." I say urgently. He seems to be unsteady on his feet as he stares at him more intently. He puts his hand on the wall and tries to act casual, but Stefan can tell he's tired. "Damon, please."

Damon nods, "Okay, Stef." He says in a reluctant voice. He wants to stay awake and help his brother with his control, but he knows that his brother will only worry about him. Damon pushes himself off of the wall and starts to walk to the couches, but his legs seem too wobbly and he would've fallen flat on his face had Stefan not been there to catch him. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." Damon tries to joke, but his voice is too raspy for it.

Stefan doesn't even laugh or smile at his brother's comment, even though he knows what it was meant to sound like. "Put your arm around me and I'll take you to the couch." Stefan says. Damon swings his arms over his brother's shoulder and allows his brother to walk him to the couch where he plops down on the seat and seems to sink into the cushions. Stefan leaves his brother for a second to retrieve the blood bag, and he's back at his brother's side.

Damon feels the cushion start to lean in the direction of the added weight and he allows himself to lean into his little brother. "So, tired, I guess that blood I drank earlier just healed the wound from Ric's crossbow." Damon mutters quietly as he closes his eyes in exhaustion.

"Hey, Hey, Damon." Stefan says as he wraps his arm around his emaciated brother. "You need to drink before you decide to go to sleep. Just finish what's left in this bag and I'll let you sleep the rest of the night, okay?" He feels Damon nod against his shoulder.

"The fire looks nice, Stef." Damon mumbles.

"Yeah, Caroline's been coming in here every day to make up a fire and keep it going." Stefan replies. "Here drink this." He says as he puts the opening of the blood bag to his brother's lips.

Damon immediately sets to drinking the blood. He needs it and as soon as it enters his mouth instant relief floods over him. He grabs it with his weak hands and starts to try and squeeze as much from it as he can into his mouth. Once he's done, he hands it back to Stefan and adjusts himself so he's more leaning against the back cushion than his little brother.

"You want another one or do you want to sleep?" Stefan asks.

"Another one." Damon breathes out. His eyes are still closed, but he's still awake.

Stefan is gone in an instant and returns seconds later with six blood bags. His brother opens his eyes when he feels weight next to him once again. Stefan sets the bags down on the coffee table in front of the couch and immediately wraps his arm around his brother again. He leans forward and grabs at one of the bags and rips it open and puts the opening to his brother's mouth.

Once Damon's on the sixth one, Stefan thinks his brother has a little more vivacity in him than he did, but he's still not back to normal. He empties it and hands it to Stefan, who sets it with the others. "Do you want more?" Stefan asks.

Damon nods and lays back allowing his upper body to fall onto Stefan's lap. "It'd be nice to be back to normal." Damon says in a sheepish voice.

Stefan smiles solemnly and gets up to get all the blood bags he can carry. Damon is able to sit up to allow his brother to sit down under him and then allows himself to fall against his brother again.

They continue like this until the sun starts shining. Damon's nearly back to full health now and this time it isn't a jinx. He's practically drank all the blood bags, they probably have about three left by the time he's done. Damon is however, passed out from exhaustion, so Stefan carries him up to his room and lays him down in his bed. He notices the clock as he returns back to the living room and is surprised that it's about six in the morning. He cleans up all the empty blood bags and checks the sofa for blood stains. Damon cares about the furniture and would be angered if it were covered in blood. There seems to be no damage to the couch and Stefan smiles.

He decides to go to his own room and write in his journal, he has to write this memory down because he's sure that this is one of the most important he's ever had.

_Dear Diary, _

_It's strange, I feel like I now have a new chapter to start with my brother. We've grown closer since he became a seven year old and now that he's not dead I think that our progress can only get better. I learned some things about my brother during the last week. He's a fighter; he refuses to give in, and perhaps that's not a totally bad aspect of his personality, because when used for the right reasons it can turn out to be a great character trait to have. I'm so glad that he's not dead, for the two days I thought he was, I couldn't mourn his death enough, and tonight when I'd seen him alive and well, not exactly healthy it scared me. I took him out to feed on some campers, but he had to compel them and he was severely wounded, not to mention the fact that he ran here at vampire speed and probably added a little extra energy in there just to beat me. It frightened me how quickly he started to fade. I became even more concerned when he had to use the wall for support. He was trying to act casual about it, but I knew that it was just a façade. I will always protect my brother against anyone that wants to hurt him and I will always be there for him. Like tonight for example, we spent all night not talking, but getting him back to full health. He drank blood bag after blood bag and nearly drained us of our supply. He wants to teach me control, and now I'm more motivated than ever, I want to protect him just as he does for me. I'm nearly useless on animal blood. He's asleep now in his own room. I made sure to close all the curtains and make the room as dark as possible for him, but his room isn't exactly the best room for that. He's exhausted, and even though the blood brought him back to what I believe to be full health he was so exhausted and his body probably needs proper sleep in his room. I figure that he can sleep all day until the surprise dinner party this evening. I will however be a better brother to him and I won't waste my time with him. Even though we have eternity to be together, I know that that could very well change any day. Yes, we are vampires and we are immortal, but this last week has shown me that we are certainly not invincible, and in fact are far from it. I don't want to have any regrets if something unexpected ever happens again. _

_—Stefan_

He finishes writing and sets the pen down and closes the leather book. He stands up and walks over to his brother's room to check on him and instantly notices that his breathing is not labored and when he takes a peek inside of the room his brother looks healthy and peaceful.

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"Hey, Stefan, how's Damon?" Caroline asks as she walks into the house.

"He's fine, he's just asleep. We spent all the rest of the night getting him back to full strength. He drained us of our blood supply. We only have three bags left, but he's healthy, just exhausted and sleeping it off for now." Stefan says.

"Wow! He really was drained." Caroline says concerned, "I am glad he's better now, though." She smiles. So, I came with food and guests." She says happily as she steps over the threshold. "Don't worry I didn't cook, so the food is good. It's take out from the Grille."

Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Ric, Jenna, Anna, and Pearl walk into the house after her.

"Pearl, Anna." Stefan addresses.

"Hello, Stefan." Anna says and Pearl just nods at him.

"I am glad to hear that your brother is doing well." Pearl says after a moment's delay.

Anna, Jeremy, and Caroline go into the kitchen to set the table and warm up the food.

"Stefan." Jenna says cautiously.

"Jenna, I'd like to apologize for my behavior last night. I was a wreck, and hope that I can make it up to you." Stefan says in an apologetic voice.

Jenna swallows hard, but she nods and walks into the kitchen to join the others.

Elena walks up to Stefan and smiles. "I'm so glad you're both okay." She says as she hugs him. Stefan hugs her back and she stays at his side while Rick walks up to Stefan with smile on his face.

"Well, this is certainly different. We're all here and instead of a funeral wake, it's a party." He says with a laugh.

"It's nice." Stefan says.

"Oh, it is, I'm not complaining. I got my best friend back, and now I can hassle him and chastise him for what happened like best friends are supposed to do, but I do think that this last week has been one of the weirdest weeks we've ever had." Ric chuckles.

"I'll drink to that." Stefan says.

"Okay, so we're ready with the food and plates, Stefan, so how about you wake Damon up so we can eat." Jeremy explains.

"Damon! Get up we have guests!" Stefan shouts, never leaving Elena's side.

"I don't wanna!" Damon complains loud enough for the whole house to hear.

Ric laughs and Stefan can hear the others giggle in the other room. "Excuse me for a second." He says to them as he disappears up the stairs.

He pushes his brother's door open and walks over to the window, where he opens the curtains. Letting what's left of the daylight to enter. He even walks back over to the entrance and flips on the light. Damon groans and buries face in a pillow. "Five more minutes, Mom." Damon mumbles through the pillow, "Please?"

"Damon, no, we have guests." Stefan says as he walks over and snatches the pillow out of his brother's grasp and rolls his eyes when Damon groans in response.

"Uggh…fine." He says. He gets out of bed and walks over to his closet where he grabs a shirt off the hanger and puts it on. He buttons it up as Stefan stands silently waiting. "You can leave you know." Damon says.

"I know that as soon as I do you're going to go back to sleep, so no, I can't." Stefan replies knowingly.

Damon sighs and rolls his eyes, "You're incessant; you know that?" He says as he walks out of his room.

"What are little brothers for if not for that?" Stefan says with a grin.

"You said we have guests?" Damon questions as he descends the staircase.

"Just get downstairs, Damon." Stefan says exasperatedly as he follows his brother down the stairs.

"Damon, it's so good to see you, healthy and back to normal." Elena says with a smile as she walks over to him and hugs him. He does the same and she pulls back and goes over to Stefan. Together, they walk into the dining room.

"My, my, it certainly looks like a party in here." Damon says upon entering. All eyes turn to him and Caroline can't help the big grin on her face. She walks over to him and she hugs him. "Since when have I ever been so huggable?" He asks.

"Oh, shut-up, Damon, and by the way you owe me a dance." Caroline says with a smirk.

"Really, what kind of dance?" Anna asks, suddenly intrigued.

"It's not nice to eaves drop, little one." Damon says.

"Oh, grow up." Anna replies.

"I already did, in case you failed to notice. I thought vampires were supposed to have good eyesight." Damon says with a smirk.

Anna sneers at him and shakes her head.

"Why, Damon, it is so nice to see you well again." Pearl says as she enters the room with Bonnie, Jeremy, and Jenna carrying the food. They set down the newly warmed food on the table.

"An eighteen hundred's style dance. I've already bought my dress." Caroline says to Anna.

Damon rolls his eyes, "Can I get out of it if I tell you that I wasn't in my right mind last week."

"Nope." Caroline says with a smirk.

"Oh, it'll be so nice, I remember Damon back in 1864; he was a wonderful dancer." A voice purrs from the entrance of the house.

Damon rolls his eyes, "Go away, Katherine." Damon mutters.

"Don't be all pouty, Damon." Katherine says as she enters the dining room.

"Wait, you're Katherine?" Jenna asks.

"Oh, if it isn't the infamous Aunt Jenna," Katherine smiles, "Yes, I'm Katherine, Elena's ancestor. It was me that you yelled at the other night for kissing Damon by the way; I feel that I should straighten that out."

"Let's eat." Stefan suggests. Everyone nods and sits down.

Of course it was planned that Damon would sit next to Caroline. Jeremy sits on the other side of him and Stefan and Elena across from him with Ric and Jenna next to them. Anna sits next to Jeremy and her mother, and Katherine sits next to Jenna across from Pearl. Bonnie sits next to Caroline and across from Elena. They immediately dig into the food.

"So, Damon, did you enjoy being cuddled when you were seven?" Ric asks before he bursts into laughter.

"Oh, haha, Ric." Damon says.

"You were cute as a little boy, Damon." Caroline says.

"Ugghh…" Damon groans as he tries to hide himself.

"Yeah, I have to agree, Damon." Katherine interjects, "I remember when I had to help save you from Fredrick. The great Damon Salvatore needed my help." She mocks.

"This is so not what I had in mind for a fun night." Damon mumbles.

"Okay, okay, everyone stop, let's let Damon have some dignity," Stefan defends. Everyone thinks he's serious until he starts to barely hold back his smile and laughter as he adds, "He couldn't help it if he was cuddly cute."

"Ahh, not you too, Stef!" Damon exclaims as he shakes his head.

"So, when are we going to the dance?" Caroline asks.

"Is that all you've focused on since I suggested it?" Damon asks as he looks over at her.

Caroline smiles and nods, "Well, ever since I've found out you've been alive." She restates.

"Nice to see you have your priorities." Damon says.

"Don't deflect my question, Damon." She says.

"I don't know, how about next weekend. You know I still have to find a dance to go to." He says.

"No need, we were talking and we were going to turn this house into the dance room." Stefan says.

"Oh, good to hear that." Damon replies sarcastically.

"Yes, and that way we can all come and have fun. You should go in your military uniform, Damon." Stefan suggests.

Damon deadpans him, and Caroline's eyes go wide with excitement, "Oh, you'll definitely have to do that, Damon!" She screams, "I bet you looked absolutely handsome in it!"

"Oh, he looked downright dashing in it, believe me." Katherine interjects.

"Kill me now." Damon begs anyone that'll listen.

"Wait, you were in the military?" Jenna asks, "What war?"

"I fought for the Confederacy." Damon replies and Stefan scoffs, "What?"

"You didn't fight, Damon. Father sent you off to war and two years later you returned home saying that you've had too much fun to return to battle. I remember the letter Father got from your commander, and you were chastised for weeks. I read it and I could understand Father's embarrassment." Stefan says.

"The Civil War?" Jenna exclaims. "Wait, how old are you all?" She asks the vampires.

"Anna and I were turned during the American Revolution, and Katherine was turned back in 1492." Pearl answers.

"Wow!" Jenna says.

"You know you're right, Damon, you really didn't change much from the transition of childhood to adulthood." Anna says, redirecting the attention over to Damon.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Is this what we're doing now, teasing me?" Damon asks.

"Oh, yeah." Anna, Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Ric, and Stefan announce at once.

"Uggh…break my neck or something." Damon mutters.

Everyone at the table laughs. Damon doesn't really mind the torment; he knows it comes from love. He's glad that he's on good terms with everyone, and he actually is enjoying himself tonight. However, there is one nagging thought running through his mind: who turned him into a little kid? If they wanted him to die, and he isn't should he be worried about retaliation? He lets the thought slip away for now, because tonight he is enjoying the company and just being around his brother.

**AN: Okay, I expect a lot more reviews. The last chapter had me so depressed with the one reviewer and all. I won't continue this if I don't get a lot of reviews. I made this chapter extra long, just because I couldn't bring myself to stop writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to put a little more brother bonding in there before I brought everyone into the scene. I can't wait to see what you guys thought of this. Please review. This isn't the end by the way; I've actually realized that I'm going to carry this story on for while. Who turned Damon into a seven year old anyways? What was their goal? Give me your thoughts and ideas, and who knows I may use a few. Thank you to the people who have reviewed, though, I greatly appreciate it, so keep it up. :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Preparations

**AN: Okay, I'd like to respond to the Guest's review about how I should continue even if I don't get a lot of reviews. I don't want to say that they didn't have good points, because they did, but I like to know what people think. The one word reviews bother me, but at least that's better than nothing. When I don't get any reviews it feels like I'm writing this for myself. I'm writing this, I don't want to read it; I want others to read it and let me know what they think of it. Thank you to all my reviewers. I really appreciate it. Also, please let me know if my characters are well, in character, because I sort of skim it before it goes up and to me it seems right, but then again I'm writing it, so I guess I'm biased or partial toward it. I do like writing this story and it would make me sad if I couldn't let the rest of you read it because none of you are reviewing. Yes, I know I have reviews, I'm being hypothetical here. As cool as it is to see a new person followed or faved it, I like reviews to know what I can do better or what I'm doing good on. Let me know any of your ideas for how Damon should've been turned into a seven year old and if you want to know how Pearl helped find the solution. I can go off into that story for a while if any of you are curious, but I need you guys to let me know. As always review after the chapter, I check daily. Enjoy Chapter four.**

Chapter 4: Preparations

"I still cannot believe you suggested to Caroline that I should go in my old uniform. You and I both know that it's long gone." Damon mutters as he walks into his brother's room. He sees his brother sitting at the desk, setting down the pen, and closing his diary. "Ooh…what you writing? Am I in there somewhere?" Damon says as he lingers in the doorway.

Stefan rolls his eyes and looks over at his brother, "You're so conceited." He laughs.

"Yeah, well, what are you going to do about it?" Damon shrugs.

Stefan shakes his head; he has a big smile on his face, "What's up, Damon?" He asks.

"Just thought that I should yell at you some more for the other night and then we'd drink to being able to forgive each other quickly." Damon says as he holds up a blood bag and two glasses. "You are getting great control. You see you can do it, you just have to put your mind to it." Damon says half-mockingly.

Stefan stands up and walks over to Damon. He grabs the glass from his brother's hand and takes the blood bag. "We are going to need more of these; you've practically drained our supply." Stefan explains.

"Oh, that…already taken care of." Damon says nonchalantly as he follows Stefan to his desk to pour the blood in the glasses.

"Really? What did you do?" Stefan asks, his voice carrying a hint of worry.

"Relax; I didn't kill anyone, just stole from the Richmond hospital." Damon explains.

"You went to Richmond and back?" Stefan asks. "We have a hospital here?"

"Yes, and I know that, but I don't need to let them get suspicious and all, with the blood bag supply diminishing. Richmond is bigger, and there is no council there to be cautious of, so…I'm sure you can guess the rest." Damon says. "From now on though, we can just steal some from the hospital here. I just don't want them getting suspicious as I had to take quite a chunk to renew our supply."

"Well, as long as it worked." Stefan says. He finishes pouring out the blood bag and divides it equally between the two glasses.

"Wow! Half, someone's thinking they can control themselves." Damon says, "What makes you think you're ready."

"We have to try this sometime." Stefan says, _plus I have great motivation for wanting myself at full strength._ Stefan thinks to himself. _Never again, will you be alone in a fight, brother._

"Okay," Damon says, and Stefan thinks he sees admiration in his brother's expression. They both sip their glasses and when they're done they set them down on Stefan's desk. Damon watches as Stefan's face returns to normal and he breathes deeply to try to regain his composure.

"Okay." Stefan says.

"Wow, it's been three days of nonstop control, good job." Damon says as he pats his brother's arm and then speeds down the stairs with the glasses and the empty bag. Stefan follows after him and joins him in the kitchen as he is rinsing the glasses out. "So, what's the reason that you decided to suggest the Confederate uniform in front of Caroline. She now won't leave me alone about it, claims it could be like her dream, _Gone with the Wind_ moment." He sneers. "I don't like it." He grumbles.

"Awe, come on Damon, you asked her out, and she's merely showing her excitement for it. I suggested it because I knew that she'd love it." Stefan explains.

Damon shakes his head. "Fine, I guess we'll have to go shop, seeing that my old uniform burned with the house all those years back." He explains.

Stefan smiles, "It'll be fun, Damon." He says.

"You're making this so difficult for me." Damon grumbles. "I'll see you later." He starts to walk out of the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Stefan asks, his voice having bare traces of worry in its tone.

"Don't worry yourself, Stef." Damon says casually as he continues to walk out of the room.

Stefan lets him go, but then figures that he could tag along with his brother. "Wait, Damon." He says.

"You want to come, don't you?" Damon says. Stefan can hear his response and smiles. His brother knows him so well. He speeds out of his room and joins Damon in the living room.

"Where are we going?" Stefan asks.

"Well, first we're going to get my uniform, and did I mention that I hate you for suggesting that?" At Stefan's smile and nod he continues, "And second I was going to go talk to a witch about my little predicament."

"Wait, we have a witch here." Stefan says.

"Relax, Stef, nothing bad is going to happen." Damon says as he walks out of the house, gets into his car, and starts it. Stefan follows him, and once he's in the car Damon pulls out.

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"So, we've got your uniform and now we're going to a place that neither of us know, to go see a witch that you only crossed paths with once?" Stefan says as his brother continues to drive.

"Yup… I figured if anyone will know why I've been turned into a child; it'll be her that can figure it out. I've heard of the work that she's done, Stefan, and she's good. However, there is one thing that you should be aware of…" Damon says, his voice suddenly sheepish.

"What?" Stefan asks. He knows his voice is dripping with concern, but he doesn't care.

"She's not exactly pro-vampire." Damon says.

"What does that mean?" Stefan asks.

"It means that I wouldn't be surprised if one of us is set on fire." Damon says softly.

Stefan deadpans him, "You're joking, right?" Damon doesn't respond and he just panics more, "Damon, if this witch is as powerful as your telling me and we're going there and either one of us could find ourselves at her mercy, then we can just go to Bonnie."

"Relax, Stefan, she's not going to attack you." Damon says reassuringly. He's hoping his brother won't read in between the lines, but the hope is in vain.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Stefan asks.

"It means that I may have done something when we crossed paths. She may not be the most pro-Damon witch in the world." Damon says lightly.

"What witch does like you, Damon?" He asks you.

"Well, let's put it this way, Bonnie even when she hated me was the most pro-Damon witch in the world after I killed Bree." He explains.

"Damon, this is—" Stefan is abruptly interrupted by Damon as he parks.

"Okay, we're here," Damon says hastily as he hastily parks the car on the side of the road and gets out before his brother can say more.

Stefan rolls his eyes and gets out of the car and follows his brother into the old building.

"Hello, Amelia?" Damon questions as he cautiously steps inside of the old house. As soon as he steps inside he smells something potent. He immediately clutches his head and moans in pain. He falls to his knees and can feel Stefan's hands grab him to bring him back up to his feet.

"Damon?" Stefan asks. He was going to ask how he and his brother can just walk into the house like normal and not be invited in when he heard his brother's pained groan and saw his brother falling to the ground clutching his head. He instantly was there to keep him upright. "What's going on?"

"Oh, hello, Damon." A woman says as she comes into view.

"Diana?" Damon manages to choke out through the pain.

"I knew you'd come here looking for Amelia, but unfortunately for you, she's unable to help you!" Diana shouts, still maintaining her hold over Damon.

Damon can't respond. He's starting to feel like he can't stay conscious and the pain is only increasing in magnitude.

Stefan feels his brother tense more and more and how he's starting to rely more and more on his hold. He starts to panic, "Stop, please." He begs.

"Why should I, he killed my sister!" She accuses in a rage filled voice.

"We can straighten this out if you—" Stefan is immediately sent to the wall by the force of the witch and his brother is left defenseless in the center of the room, at the mercy of the witch. He watches helplessly as she approaches his brother, who is now crumpled on the floor holding his head in pain, with blood now pouring out of his ears.

"You should be dead." She says. "You must have someone on your side." She says to herself as she observes her enemy.

"That's okay, because now I can have some fun with you." She says as she bends down and hovers over him.

Stefan can only watch. His struggles are no good; they won't break through the barrier that's holding him against the wall.

She seems to release her hold over Damon, though, because he's no longer clutching his head in pain, but he doesn't look like he can move. She puts her hands over his chest and forehead to keep him from getting up. She whispers a spell under her breath and before Damon understands what's happening he goes unconscious.

Stefan watches as the witch seems to do something concerning his brother's limp body and can only beg her to stop, "Please, stop." He says again.

She doesn't respond, and before Stefan can plead again she seems to be done with what she was doing and disappears. Stefan's hold immediately releases him and he rushes over to his unresponsive brother. As he's trying to wake his brother he notices out of the corner of his eye a body lying in the dark corner of the house. He rushes over to her and figures that it must me Amelia. She has a not attached to her dead body and Stefan immediately picks it up and reads it.

"Well, Damon, you can't get help from Amelia if she's dead," It reads, "I hope to meet you again considering you've survived the last de-aged spell. Just be warned to stay as far away from me as possible, because you will be marked if you and I cross paths again."

—Diana

Stefan folds the letter up and puts it in his pocket and he returns to his still-unresponsive brother.

"Damon?" He asks as he gently shakes him. Damon starts to moan and his eyelids start to flutter open.

"Uggh, Stef?" He asks in a quiet, hoarse voice.

"I'm here, Damon," Stefan says quickly. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"Peachy." Damon responds sarcastically. "What happened? Where'd she go?" Damon asks as he starts to regain his strength and sit up with Stefan's help.

"She left, but apparently she wasn't expecting to meet you here, because she left you a note, saying how she'd mark you if she saw you again." Stefan states, "Who was she? Who did you kill?"

"That's Diana, Bree's sister. Now it all makes sense," Damon says, "She's the one who turned me into a seven year old. She did that spell to me." He clutches his head and moans. "Wow, she did a number on me."

"Yeah, she did," Stefan says, "Come on we should get going." He says as he stands up. "Can you stand?"

"Sure." Damon says as he attempts to get to his feet. He wobbles a bit, but with his brother's steadying hands he manages to stand upright. "Uggh…feels like my head is going to explode."

They return back to the car and Stefan takes the initiative to drive, because Damon's still a little dizzy from the repeated aneurism.

"What does it mean, when she marks you?" Stefan asks worriedly.

"Oh, that, yeah, it means nothing." Damon responds indifferently.

"Damon, if it means something you need to tell me." Stefan says urgently.

"Fine, it just means that now she can sense wherever I am, and that any witch I approach will view me as a threat." Damon explains, "As well as any other supernatural creature."

"Oh, just that, okay, well why didn't you say so?" Stefan asks in a sarcastic voice. "Damon, this is serious!"

"It's fine, Bonnie knows who I am and so do Caroline, you, Katherine, Pearl, and Anna." Damon says.

"Then what exactly does a mark do?" Stefan asks.

"I don't know exactly what it does, Stefan, but it'll be fine." Damon responds. "Now, let's listen to some music to ease your worries." Damon explains as he cranks the volume up on the radio.

Stefan sighs and shakes his head, _I'll just ask Bonnie, when we get home._ He thinks to himself.

**AN: Okay, not my best chapter, I'll concede to that. However, I had to set up the plot for the sequel somehow. The next one will be better I promise. Let me know what you thought of it. Please review, as always. **


	5. Chapter 5: Powerful

Chapter 5: Powerful

"So with Damon marked it won't do anything?" Stefan asks. He's sitting with Bonnie in her house just like he was a week ago, when he was asking her about how his brother was turned into a seven year old.

"No, not exactly, although what Damon said is partially true. All supernatural creatures will see him as a threat, but first something has to happen to cause this." Bonnie bites her lip. She's hiding something.

"What has to happen, Bonnie?" Stefan asks. He frowns; Bonnie is averting his gaze, and she's not answering, "What has to happen, Bonnie?" He asks again.

"He has to…it's complicated, Stefan, and it may not even happen, but he has to kill someone for it to take effect." Bonnie explains.

"What?" Stefan exclaims, "He kills people all the time." Stefan whispers more to himself than to Bonnie, "What exactly does the spell do to him, once it takes effect?"

"What Damon says is partially true, you, I and every other supernatural creature will see him as a threat, but that'll be because he will be a threat." Bonnie explains in a meek voice.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asks.

"He won't be your brother anymore. The spell won't change our view of him, but it will re-wire _his_ brain." Bonnie explains solemnly, "He won't be Damon Salvatore anymore; he'll be rabid and uncontrollable."

"He'll be a ripper." Stefan says, finally understanding.

"Yes, but unlike you, he won't have any emotional attachments and he won't hesitate to kill anything and anyone, so he won't hesitate to kill us. When he does break the curse, I'll have to take him out." Bonnie says sternly.

"No!" Stefan says. "You won't take him out!"

"I'm sorry, Stefan. The witch, who did this to him, probably realized that she couldn't kill him herself, she'd do something to him that would cause us to do it for her." Bonnie sighs.

"Is there anything that we could do now to stop this possibility from becoming a reality?" Stefan asks.

"Keep him from killing." Bonnie says in a serious voice. Stefan deadpans her, and she sighs, _telling Damon not to kill is like telling the sun not to set every day,_ Bonnie thinks to herself. Stefan's expression is only revealing that he's thinking the same thing. "Okay, so we take him out now." Bonnie instantly regrets what she says as it leaves her mouth. Stefan's expression scares her.

"There's got to be another way." Stefan says in a barely controlled voice.

"I'll look into it, but listen, Stefan, the witch is probably going to make sure that Damon completes the spell, turning him into a remorseless, unpitying monster, so just be on your guard." Bonnie cautions, "He will be tested."

Stefan sighs and rolls his eyes, "This can't be happening."

"Have you ever thought about keeping Damon on a leash?" Bonnie asks. She can't help but giggle a little at that visual: Damon on a leash and being restricted by Stefan. That's funny!

Stefan laughs a little as well, "I just might have to."

"Listen, Stefan, I don't want to have to take him out either, and hey maybe we can find answers. We could always go to Vanessa." Bonnie shrugs.

"Yeah, maybe there's a way to counteract it." Stefan says, "I'm not taking any chances and since it's currently the morning, we should leave right now. Damon, Ric, and Caroline should come too."

"I'll call them on our way to the boarding house." Bonnie says. With that Stefan and Bonnie stand up and leave the house. They get into his small sports car and drive toward the boarding house.

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman, it's Bonnie." Bonnie says when she hears that the phone's been picked up.

"What's up, Bonnie?" Ric asks.

"Can you get Caroline, Damon, and yourself over to the boarding house ASAP, because Stefan and I were talking and we think we should go to see Vanessa and find out what information she has on the new predicament?" Bonnie explains.

"Okay, sure, and I just got briefed over the situation by Damon, but I know for a fact that he was definitely giving me the short version, so could you tell me what's going on? I think he's trying to hide it from Caroline." Ric whispers.

"Umm…it's sort of complicated. I don't even understand it fully myself, but we'll all understand it when we get to the campus." Bonnie answers.

"Okay." Ric sighs. "See you when you get here."

"You're all already there?" Bonnie asks.

"Um…yeah, and it's not exactly fun, since Caroline and Damon are going at it at the moment." Ric explains.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asks.

"You're going to have to come and hear for yourself, because I'm not going to get in the middle of it and find out." Ric responds with an uneasy chuckle.

"That bad, huh?" Bonnie asks, biting her lip.

"Oh, yeah." Ric replies.

"Okay, then we'll be over soon." Bonnie says.

"Okay." Ric replies and they both hang up.

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"Damon, please let me see you in your uniform." Caroline begs.

"No," Damon responds, "I didn't even want to wear it in the first place, but then Stefan had to go and mention it, and now that I have it, just for you I might add, I'm going to have you wait to see me in it next weekend." Damon explains.

"At least let me see it!" Caroline screams.

"Nope." Damon responds stoically. He's lying on his bed, looking at Caroline from a weird angle as she stands over him with hands on her hips.

"Okay, well, can we at least discuss what happened to you, because your acting way more irritable than normal?" Caroline states.

"Yeah, I'm irritable, because I'm being pestered by a dumb blonde." Damon says impassively.

Caroline wants to storm out of the room and go home and cry. Damon's never talked to her like that since she was human. "Damon, come on you…" She lets her voice trail off.

"What's a matter, Barbie, you can't handle the truth?" Damon asks unknowingly of what he just said.

"You're being mean, what's the purpose of this?" Caroline tries to remain unaffected by his words, but the truth is, is that they hurt. Damon was supposed to be nice.

"You left for the rest of the day yesterday, after the dinner and now you're acting mean, what is this?" Caroline says in a strained voice.

"Nothing happened, Caroline, gosh, just leave me alone." Damon says exasperatedly.

Caroline takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, when she opens them she looks over to Damon and frowns. He's looking at her, while sitting up on his elbows and it seems as though he's barely able to hold onto laughter.

"You're such an emotional wreck of a vampire; I say one thing and you get all teary eyed and barely composed. You're—" Damon can't even finish, because by then Caroline has already slapped him hard across the face. His face nearly spins around and his face shifts from being sardonic to full on menacing and scary. Caroline's never felt such fear before and she's never seen this face on Damon. He looks evil.

She backs away slowly; her breath hitching in her throat as she slowly takes steps backwards.

Damon stands up slowly and never removes his eyes from hers. His face still holds its evil, malicious glare. He rubs his face and sighs, "You're useless, you're emotional, and you're stupid." Damon says through clenched teeth.

Every word and phrase is like a knife cutting into her. She wants hide somewhere and cry her eyes out. "Damon…" She can't seem to find her voice, because as soon as she says his name his face turns even scarier if that's even possible and she knows he's seconds from attacking her. She dashes down the stairs and notices that Ric, Bonnie, and Stefan are there laughing. They immediately stop when they take in her wide, fearful eyes and shaky form.

"Caroline?" Bonnie asks. Stefan studies her and watches as Bonnie approaches Caroline, and embraces her. "What's wrong, Care?" Bonnie asks.

Caroline immediately bursts into tears.

"Oh, boo hoo, Blondie, go run to them why don't you?" Damon shouts as he appears on the steps.

"Damon!" Stefan scolds.

Damon immediately begins to look at his brother hatefully, and Stefan is taken aback. He stares at his brother with wide eyes.

"Don't you scold me, Brother, because I think you have bigger task on your hands, and that's consoling the emotional wreck of a useless vampire over there!" Damon says as he points toward Caroline, who is being embraced by Bonnie.

"Damon?" Ric asks.

"Oh, good Ric," Damon sighs in slight relief, but still never losing the edge to his voice, "I've been in need of something to take my anger out on." Damon almost laughs, before he rushes at Ric and pins him to the wall by his neck, choking the life out of him, while his face transforms into true vampire form.

"Damon, stop it!" Caroline shouts.

Damon immediately let's Ric go and rushes at Caroline in a fit of rage. Before anyone can react he slams her into the wall again and again, with all the force he can.

Bonnie stands watching Damon beat Caroline and she can't seem to gather her powers together at the moment. It's only when Damon stops and Caroline's clearly dizzy that she seems to be able to breathe properly. "I hate you." Damon says in a serious tone to Caroline, right before Bonnie aneurisms him into a coma.

Once Ric is on his feet and able to stand, Stefan is able to take in the whole situation, he hears what Damon says to Caroline and then he watches as his brother has barely enough time to scream before he falls to the floor limp.

"Caroline?" Bonnie asks. She takes in Caroline's form. She's definitely hurt physically and her hair and make-up are ruined. Her clothes are a mess, but what strikes her the most is her friend's lost and empty look.

"Caroline?" Stefan and Ric say as they come up behind Bonnie.

She allows tears to silently stream down her cheeks as she looks up from Damon and stares at her friends' worried and concerned countenances.

"Caroline, listen to me. Something's happened to Damon, he—" Stefan can't finish his statement, because Caroline starts yelling.

"I don't care. I thought your brother has changed, but no he got worse. He's called me useless, scared me half to death, and treated me like garbage, but he's never told me that he hates me!" Caroline screams and she immediately vanishes from the parlor, leaving a gush of wind behind her.

"Okay, does anyone want to give me a detailed version, now?" Ric asks, exasperatedly.

"He didn't kill anyone did he?" Bonnie asks.

"No, not that I know of," Stefan answers.

"Well, he seemed like he did." Bonnie says.

"No, he had hate in his eyes, he didn't kill anyone. As a ripper you'd feel nothing, not anger, hate, sadness, just nothing." Stefan explains, "This was all him." He looks down at his brother with a frown and realization, "This was all him."

"What's going on?" Ric asks. The others seem to be completely ignoring him and his questions. He sighs.

* * *

**AN: WOW! Sorry for the lateness of the update, but I wasn't really sure how I wanted this chapter to end, and plus I was so busy with school and extracurricular activities, that I couldn't really find the time. So Damon's a jerk. How's Caroline ever going to forgive him? What are your thoughts? Why did Damon act like this? You may be thinking one thing, but I can assure you that I have something else in mind. Anyways thanks for reading and please review. Hopefully this chapter was okay, because I sort of feel like I'm losing it with this story. I need to know if you think I am, because I definitely don't want to continue it if I am. I could end up ruining it. And about the Delena comment in one of the reviews, I have huge issues with Delena. I'm not saying that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but Elena can't just be like, "Oh, I love you Stefan," and then when they break up, she goes to Damon with the same statement. It's sort of, excuse my language, slutty. I like Stelena, the books ended it that way and the show needs to do the same. Anyways, please review.**


	6. Chapter 6: Mind over Matter

Chapter 6: Mind over Matter

Damon groggily opens his eyes. His head is pounding and his memory is foggy, but he remembers most of what happened. It feels like it was a dream. "Damon?" He hears Stefan's voice.

Stefan is sitting right next to his brother's bedside. Bonnie and Ric suggested locking him in the cellar, but Stefan was adamant he was not going to do that unless absolutely necessary.

"Uggh…my head." Damon groans as he tries to sit up on his elbows. He blinks a few times.

"Yeah, aneurisms will do that to you." Stefan explains in a heavy voice, "Bonnie hit you with them so hard, that it's about morning the next day."

"What?" Damon asks. "What time is it?"

"About seven o'clock in the morning." Stefan says. He is wary of his brother. He seems civil. "You wanna talk about what happened yesterday morning?" He lightly suggests.

"Why?" Damon asks in an uncaring tone.

"Damon, you exploded yesterday. Caroline is a wreck." Stefan says, "I'm worried about you." He lets his voice sort of trail off at the last part. It sort of just spilled out of him.

"You're worried about me?" Damon asks and Stefan nods, "Why?"

"Because, Damon, you were like a crazy person yesterday. I know that wasn't you." Stefan defends.

Damon wants to laugh, "You're joking right?"

"Damon, I don't understand what brought on this change of attitude." Stefan states, "But Ric and Bonnie went to Vanessa and she gave them some information on the spell. We have no clue what it does. Bonnie's looking over the information, but she says it's hard to decipher."

"Well, tell her not to bother." Damon says as he gets up.

"You don't mean that." Stefan says.

"Yeah, I do, and you know what, I am tired of you thinking that you can save me and fix me or whatever. Just kill me and get it over with." Damon says in a serious tone.

Stefan frowns, "Damon, if this is the spell I need you to fight it."

"This isn't the spell, Stefan, and I want you to keep that in mind for what I'm about to tell you." Damon says. Stefan swallows hard, "I hate you. I've always hated you, and I need you to understand that." Damon says every word with emphasis.

Stefan's heard those words come out of Damon's mouth for a century and then some and for the most part they've been directed at him, but these words seem to cut deep.

"Damon?" Stefan asks.

"Uggh…how hard is it to nail this information into your head. I never loved you. You're not my brother, our relationship died when you betrayed me all those years back. You never apologized for what you did. You just assumed that I'd forgive and forget, well understand this, Stefan, I never forgive and forget, especially not you." Damon says. He finally takes in his brother and notices the red eyes and the emotional turmoil on his expression. "Feels good to get that of my chest!"

"Damon, you don't mean that?" Stefan asks. He could hear the certainty in his brother's voice, but he doesn't want to believe it. Those words cut him deep and worst of all; Damon said them with an air he's never said with those words before. He said them with honesty and certainty.

"Of course I do." Damon says in mock sympathy. He tilts his head to the side and looks his brother up and down. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get as far away from you as possible." With that Damon vanished and left behind a short gust of wind. "What the heck!" He hears Damon's shout a short minute later.

Stefan rushes down to him. "Bonnie and I thought it would be best to keep you on a leash."

"So, you lock me up in here. Well, if I can't get away from you, then you get away from me!" Damon exclaims, "Leave!"

"No, Damon, I know you don't mean that." Stefan shakes his head.

"Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't have said it." Damon laughs hollowly.

Stefan winces. "No, you don't."

"Oh, I see what this is," Damon says, "You think that because I was so nice to you for the past week that I don't hate you. Well, let me tell you this, I do hate you, and I hated you then, but I was in need and weak, so I lied. Remember, I'm a really good liar when I want to be, Stefan."

"Stop it!" Stefan finally shouts.

Damon laughs, "Ooh, losing our composure, now are we?"

"I'm warning you!" Stefan yells.

"Or what?" Damon asks. He tips an eyebrow at him. Then rushes at him and on the way he rips a wood leg from a chair.

Stefan is slammed against the wall by a snarling and hateful Damon. He suddenly notices that a stake is in his brother's hand and before he can react it's plunged into his stomach directly below his heart.

Stefan falls to his knees with a groan. Damon's standing over him and when Stefan squints his eyes and catches a glimpse of his brother's face, he's standing there with triumph written across it. "If you hate me so much, then why don't you just kill me?" Stefan asks.

"Because, who knows I may find you useful someday in the future, and you won't be too useful with a stake in your heart." Damon laughs. "Oh, you're going to need blood to heal that by the way." He says casually as he starts to walk away.

Stefan by now is filled with blind rage. He growls low and deep as he rips the stake out of his chest. "Fine I'll go get blood." Stefan says menacingly. "In the process I'll eradicate my problem, too." He sees Damon turn around and as he's about to ask something, Stefan lunges at him. He forces Damon to the ground and he rips into Damon's neck with haste. Damon struggles and fights beneath him, but his gasps and pleas are doing no good. Stefan can feel the blood enter into his mouth and he just continues to suck harder. Before he knows it he's so far gone in the blood he rips away when he no longer feels Damon's struggles and it seems like he can't get any more blood from his brother. He stands up and wipes his mouth, relishing in the sweet taste.

"Oh, my gosh!" He hears a gasp to the left of him and turns to see a disheveled Bonnie standing in the doorway to the boarding house with a hand over her mouth. Her wide eyes are staring from Stefan to Damon.

Stefan frowns and his face changes from full vampire mode. He finally notices what has Bonnie so distressed and looks down at Damon. He's…desiccated. Stefan wants to die right then and there. It wasn't his brother after all. His brother was being controlled by the spell. He immediately falls to his knees beside Damon and picks his torso up in his arms. "I nearly killed him." Stefan says more to himself than to Bonnie.

"It's okay, Stefan, just give him blood and wake him up." Bonnie explains.

"No, no it's not okay, Bonnie, I attacked him, I drained him. I got so caught up in the anger that I couldn't think straight." Stefan says in a hollow voice.

"Just go down to the basement and get some blood bags and it'll all be better." Bonnie says hesitantly. "Leave him there." She instructs.

Stefan carefully sets Damon down and is gone in an instant. He's back before Bonnie can even blink once. He drops to his knees beside Damon and immediately picks his brother's limp, desiccated form up in his arms, rips into a blood bag, and practically shoves the liquid down Damon's throat.

**Last night:**

"So, you're positive it'll work?" Ric asks once again.

Damon's knocked out cold upstairs and Bonnie, Stefan, and Ric are in the parlor asking Bonnie about the information she found out.

"Pearl is old, Stefan, and she told me this is how it has to be done." Bonnie says.

"So, she's able to decipher all of Vanessa's information?" Stefan asks.

"She was right about how to turn Damon back into his normal self." Bonnie responds incredulously.

"What did you tell Caroline?" Ric asks, changing the subject.

"I couldn't get a hold of her, but I figured that after Damon's fixed, he can tell her himself." Stefan sighs. "Anyways, tell me again, what I have to do?"

"Okay, so you're going to need to desiccate him without vervain." Bonnie says.

"Without vervain!" Stefan exclaims, "That could literally take months, Bonnie!" He exclaims.

"I never said that you couldn't drain him." Bonnie replies.

"What?" Ric asks.

"Listen, it will take only minutes maybe more, if you suck the blood right out of him." Bonnie says.

"Do we know what his meltdown was about?" Stefan asks.

"It wasn't the spell if that's what you mean." Bonnie says sadly. "It was all him."

"Okay, back to the desiccation. You need to understand that when a vampire loses blood naturally even with vervain they will wake up, but when they are abruptly taken of it, it could kill them." Stefan says hastily.

"Stefan, if you want your brother back then you have to take that chance." Ric says.

He closes his eyes, "I'm not going to do it while he's up in bed and weak. I at least want him to have a fighting chance to live." Stefan says.

"Okay, well, when he does wake up, text me and I'll come over then once he's desiccated and you can wake him up and the spell should be out of his system." Bonnie explains.

"So the spell is in his blood? Won't it go into Stefan, then?" Ric asks.

"No, no, it won't work that way. The spell will be destroyed as Damon loses blood." Bonnie answers.

"Why won't vervain work?" Stefan asks.

"Vervain will…I didn't completely understand it myself, but from what I gathered it doesn't seem to mix well with the spell." Bonnie answers.

Stefan closes his eyes, "So, I'm going to have to drain my brother dry, and hope that he desiccates normally."

"It appears that way." Bonnie says sympathetically

**Present:**

Damon immediately takes hold of the bag and drains it. He doesn't notice when Stefan swaps them. Finally after the sixth one he pushes the others away. He opens his eyes and immediately notices Stefan looking at him with a mixed expression. Damon's breathing hitches in his throat and his eyes go wide.

Stefan knows that Damon's probably freaked out. He's never had the joy of seeing a vampire after they wake up from desiccation, but he's heard that they are delusional and lose track of time. Damon starts to try to stand up and Stefan immediately stands and tries to help him, but Damon just pushes him away and scrambles as he falls to the floor. He instantly backs away into the wall and uses it to help him stand up. Stefan frowns as he's studies his brother. "Damon, your weak, you need help."

Damon's eyes grow even wider and finally Stefan realizes it, Damon's scared. He attacked his brother with such vulgar rage, that how could he expect anything less.

"Damon, you're delusional, scared, disoriented, and weak so let me help you. I won't hurt you." Stefan says.

Damon closes his eyes and swallows hard, "Why?"

"I had to Damon, the spell. Desiccating you got rid of the spell." Stefan tries to explain hastily.

Damon seems to relax and he falls back against the wall and groans when he slides down and hits the floor with a thump. He coughs and feels himself falling asleep once again.

"Hey, hey, hey, Damon." Stefan says after he rushes over to his feeble brother, "You need to drink, okay." He says quickly as he brings the fresh blood bag to his brother's mouth.

Damon immediately drinks and Stefan keeps swapping the bags out for him. By the time he's done, Damon doesn't know how many blood bags he went through, but all he knows is that he feels so much better. Never before has he been desiccated, and he doesn't want to ever go through that again.

"So, how do you feel?" Stefan asks.

"Well, besides your attack, and me feeling a little groggy, I feel okay." Damon says as he leans back against the wall and allows his legs to stretch out.

"Well, Damon, now you have some explaining to do." Bonnie immediately interjects.

Damon's eyes pop open and he finally lays eyes on Bonnie, "Were you here?"

Stefan nods. "I texted her as soon as I saw you waking up."

Damon sighs, "Great." He shrugs sarcastically as he gets to his feet, using the wall for support. He walks to the couch and plops down in the seat closest to the coffee table.

"What was with your little break down, yesterday?" Bonnie asks.

"It was the spell." Damon answers immediately.

"No, it wasn't, Damon, as little as I understood about the spell, I know it doesn't change your behavior until you kill someone." Bonnie says.

Stefan feels hurt rise in him as he remembers what his brother said to him before he attacked him. Stefan and Bonnie walk into the room, where Damon is and when Stefan drags the chairs in front of the fireless fireplace he and Bonnie sit across from Damon to interrogate him.

Damon watches them sit down across from him and he rolls his eyes and rubs his face, "This should be interesting." Damon says more to himself than the others.

"The things you said to Caroline and to me? The things you did to Ric? What was that?" Stefan asks.

"I was desperate, you have to understand that. I knew what the spell would do to me. I also knew that you can go for eternity and forever have that spell hanging over you…the witch would be linked to me, through my blood. She would be able to test me throughout all of time, and nothing would end up well. I had a friend who had to deal with the spell, I watched what he went through and I knew I didn't want to go through that and I certainly didn't want to die as a monster, so I figured that if I could make you hate me enough you'd kill me while I was still me. My friend thought he could deal with the spell, but later on he finally couldn't take it and fell for one of the traps. I had to kill him." Damon winces at the memory.

"You wanted me to kill you?" Stefan asks.

"Well, yeah, I did, because Caroline just whimpered and wouldn't do it no matter what I said to her." Damon groans.

"You hurt my best friend for your own gain?" Bonnie growls.

"No, I hurt her for your gain. This spell that was on me would have consumed us all. It would have caused stress and tension, so I was trying to save time." Damon says incredulously.

"Well, you have pressing matters to deal with now, Damon, so I suggest you straighten it out with Caroline." Stefan says.

"Uggh…where is she?" Damon says as he stands up.

"She's at my house." Bonnie answers reluctantly. She doesn't want to give up her friend's location to Damon, but she realizes that Caroline's hurting and things need to be fixed.

"I'm not invited into your home." Damon frowns.

"Come in to my home." Bonnie says. "Now, you are, so go."

Damon nods and with that he speeds off to Caroline, to hopefully find forgiveness for what he said and did.

**So, will Caroline forgive Damon? I don't know myself yet. Maybe I won't end this with a Daroline twist. Let me know your thoughts, I can't wait to hear what you think. Review! I don't know how many times I can ask you guys to review. It annoys the crap out of me when you don't. Okay, so anyways, my little rant and rave is over. I really want to put the next chapter up before Monday night comes, but it is all dependent on the amount of reviews that I get. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7: Unexpected Surprise

Chapter 7: Unexpected Surprise

Damon finds himself on the porch of Bonnie's house. He can hear Caroline crying inside. He hesitates at the door, but eventually he knocks.

"Who is it?" He could hear Caroline's sniffle through the wall.

Damon decides not to say anything and he knocks again and again. Finally he hears shuffling and then the door is being slowly pulled open.

Caroline can only hold her breath when she sees who is at the door. She never expected him to show up, the way he treated her, is not something she wanted to relive. Looking into his blue eyes made her relive that exact moment when he professed his hatred of her. She barely manages to keep herself composed. She nevertheless frowns and swallows hard, "What do you want?"

"To talk." Damon says kindly. "I'm not going to lie to you and say that what I did was because of some spell or something, because it wasn't." Damon hastily continues before she can drown him out through her incessant sobbing, "But, I did have a spell put on me and I told you that I hated you because I figured that you could kill me."

Caroline frowns, "You wanted me to kill you?"

"Don't think you're so special, I practically did the same thing to Stefan and he desiccated me out of rage and brotherly love." Damon grimaces at the thought. All the pain of desiccation hitting him at once was not ideal, and he certainly did not want to go through that again.

"How can I forgive you or ever trust you again, Damon, I realize that you do act off of impulse, but don't you think that you took it too far this time?" She asks in a wary voice.

"Stefan forgave me." Damon shrugs solemnly, but it doesn't help any.

"Listen, Damon, I realize why you did it, but I also think that you went too far. I forgive you, but I'm not going to be naïve anymore." Caroline says in a sad voice.

"What? Caroline, what does that mean?" Damon asks.

"It means that you don't have to fulfill your promise, our relationship, whatever we had is over." Caroline sighs heavily. "I think you should leave, Damon."

Damon fought the tears and he started to breathe heavily. Caroline shuts the door slowly and quietly without waiting for a response. Damon feels like he's been staked. He's beyond hurt. The last time something like this happened he flipped out and killed Elena's kid brother. He doesn't exactly want to go on a rampage this time, but how can he do anything but. He speeds off and seems to be overcome with rage, hurt, and many other mixed emotions he didn't know he had.

Caroline sits in her friend's room, crying to herself. Damon hates her. He said the words with such sincerity. What had she done to deserve those words? She knew Damon was unpredictable at times, but this, this was off the charts. She continues crying when she hears a knock at the door. She walks over to it and she wants to scream and slap Damon Salvatore for all he did to her. How dare he come to her friend's house! How dare Bonnie tell him she was here! However, nothing comes out but an angered statement, because that's all she can handle at the moment. He tells her how it was his attempt to get her to kill him and everything like that. Caroline believes him, she really does, but this makes her realize something, Damon is far too unpredictable for her to be with. She knows it's for the best even if it will hurt Damon. She closes the door after she finishes talking and knows that he's probably going to go kill someone in the name of heartbreak. She doesn't want him to do that, but she knows that Damon Salvatore is extreme and she can't be afraid to break someone out of fear that he'll lash out. She knows that she did the right thing.

Damon found himself walking down a road on the outskirts of town. He never thought that he would find himself using his old tricks again. The fog, the lying down in the middle of the road, and the crow, but yet here he is. The fog consumes the road, but it's not heavy enough to hide him from being seen. It's day time and he knows that it's probably not the smartest thing he's ever done, to hunt in the middle of the day. But when has he, Damon Salvatore, ever been smart? He's always been steered by impulse.

He lies in the middle of the road waiting for an unsuspecting person to stop, offer him help, and then die in his arms. He hears the distant sound of an approaching vehicle. He doesn't know from where it comes, but he's ready for it. He closes his eyes and waits for the opportune moment.

He opens his eyes when he hears the vehicle has stopped but there's no one coming out. _This is odd_, he thinks to himself as he looks over at the car. It's red and the lights are shining right on him. He hears incessant honking coming from it too. _What the hell?_ He asks himself as he props himself on his elbows. He finally stands up and only then does the car door open. Who comes out of the car doesn't just surprise him, it astonishes him. This is the last person, who he expected to see. They have a sympathetic look about their face and he frowns. This person walks up to him and puts their hand on his shoulder. "I heard what happened, Damon." She says.

"You did?" Damon manages to ask.

She nods, "I did. Come on, let's do something together."

**Okay, so sorry for the shortness, but I wanted to leave it here. Let me know who you think this "she" is. Is it a character of the show or a made up character? I don't know. Well, actually _I_ know, but you don't. Review if you want to find out who she is. Thank you to my two last reviewers, you're the only reason I'm still writing this story. Hopefully it'll get better. I hope I didn't make some of you too mad, since I tore apart Daroline. I know, I know, I'm evil right, well, I don't care. I've always had this idea in mind. So, hopefully you'll like it in the end. :) **


	8. Chapter 8: Why?

Chapter 8: Why?

"So, why…?" Damon still stares at her with wide eyes. He doesn't understand it. He can't even form the words to ask the question that he wants to ask. She continues to drive, and he doesn't give a crap where she's going. She could be heading to Timbuktu for all he cares.

"Why am I here?" She finishes for him after a moment. She looks over when he nods, his jaw hangs open just slightly in surprise, "Because I care about you, Damon, I always have. I don't understand why you don't seem to believe me." She says, feigning hurt. She focuses her attention back on the road before her.

"Maybe because, I've been stabbed in the back one too many times by you." He says patronizingly.

"Don't be sarcastic with me. I'm like the only one that doesn't want to see you dead, right now." She says, "You know, Stefan maybe your little brother, but he's not too happy with you."

"I know he's upset with me, tell me who isn't?" Damon says spitefully, "Gosh, I really screwed up didn't I?" He groans.

"Well, that's the beauty of being a vampire, you can move on, and you have an endless amount of time to make things right." She says reasonably.

He looks at her with narrow eyes, "Is that what you're doing now, making things right?"

She shrugs, never taking her eyes off the road, "Maybe, maybe not, but I did however, like that idea you had when it came to we have an eternity to rebuild what we once had way back in the day."

He laughs and shake his head at that, "Please, we all know you don't give a crap about that."

"No, you're right, I didn't at first. I was in love with someone I could never have, and that's just like you, Damon. You can't deny the fact that you cared about Elena, that you could've loved her, and the same thing with Caroline, but yet here you are and here I am. I'm not saying that our love will be epic, but if we give ourselves enough time, maybe one day we could have something close to it." She says realistically.

He frowns, but he says nothing in response to that.

"What transpired way back in 1864, was me being scared and on the run from someone so dangerous, that he would kill this town for the fun of it, and no one can stop him, and I came back here to find a way to get out of his radar, to get off of his list, but I'm driving with you now, to…well, I don't even know where we're going, but I'm here now, because the break I took from you from your brother, from that town was just what I needed to clear my head. I was alone for a century and a half, Damon, I'm done now, and I want to start over. Yes, I'm still going to be on the run, but you need a break too, whether you want to admit or not, you know you do, somewhere in there." She points to his heart, "So, come on, take a break with me, and in like one hundred or two hundred years we'll return to that town, and you can resume, where you left off, without the looming threat of having to deal with Elena, Bonnie, and all the other people that want you dead." She explains resolutely.

He seems to think about that, "Where would we go?"

She shrugs, "That's the beauty of it; it doesn't matter. We can play in a town for a bit, and move on. Who knows, we may even find love with each other or with someone else, or you may want to be alone. Take a break, Damon; you know it'd do you good." She says with a mischievous smile.

"What about…?" He lets his voice trail off when he sees her smirk knowingly. She rolls her eyes and looks back at the road in front of them.

"Give Stefan a call, and then throw the phone away, Damon. You've always been able to find your brother before, two hundred years shouldn't make a difference. Caroline will still be there, without all the witches wanting you dead. You'll leave that community alone, and before you know it, there'll be none of them trying to kill you. Elena will be dead, so you won't have to deal with her alluring sense of behavior. You and your brother will find a way to patch things up, you always have." She says.

He nods, but then looks at her hesitantly, "Won't I be seen as a coward?"

She meets his eyes, "I was seen as a coward, but I don't care. Since when does Damon Salvatore care what others think about him?"

He frowns and thinks about that. He finally smiles, "Well, these next two centuries should be fun." He smiles.

She smiles and looks back out at the road once more, "Who are you calling?"

"Stefan." He says succinctly. He finishes dialing and puts the phone to his hear.

_"Damon, where are you?" _He hears his brother's voice.

"I'm leaving town." Damon says resolutely.

_"What, Damon, for how long? Where? You can't just leave like this, right now." _Stefan's voice is definitely bordering on anger.

"I don't know how long I'm leaving for, but I'll start to seek you out in a century or two, and as for where, Katherine and I haven't decided right now, but you have a good one or two." Damon laughs.

_"Katherine? Damon, look, I don't know what's going on, but you can't just leave Caroline like this. What about your best friend, Ric? What about all you said?"_ Stefan asks.

"I'll be seeing you, Stef. Stay on the wagon, Little Brother, and goodbye." He hangs up the phone before he can hear his brother's response. He then rolls down the window and tosses the phone out.

"Where to, Damon?" Katherine asks curiously.

"Let's try another continent. I've been in this one for practically a century and a half." Damon says.

Katherine smiles, "That's the Damon I know."

Damon grins playfully and nods. "Oh, yeah." He whispers and his grin grows from ear to ear.

**Okay, so here's the end. Don't be disappointed. I wanted to end it, I felt that it wasn't going anywhere, not like the other one. Don't be mad, but I do want to know, who you thought the mystery woman was at the end of chapter 7. Sorry, it took me so long to update this, but it took me so long to figure out a way to end this, and explain why I'm doing it this way. Please review. Reviews keep me going. Also, I'm currently writing a three way crossover, between Supernatural and Vampire Diaries. Let me know if that intrigues you. Thank you for being so patient with this story. I thank all of you for your reviews, and love when it came to this story. I left it open, but I'm probably not going to anywhere with it, but I just thought I should leave that open. Let me know if you feel this story wasn't resolved. Please don't hesitate to comment on my other stories. Reviews are love people. :) Thank you again.**


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